Garment display form



Aug. 10, 1937. L. KALVIN GARMENT DISPLAY FORM Filed June 30, 1956 Patented Aug. 10, 1937 l'iED STATE EPATE OFFICE 7 Claims.

The present invention relates to garment display forms, and more particularly to those which are modeled to simulate the human body or form in both outline and relief so as to effectively display articles of clothing which are intended to fit the person more or less closely, as for example bathing suits.

In my copending application, Serial No. 23,838, filed May 28, 1935, I have illustrated the construction of a display form which is well adapted to the display of close-fitting garments in general but has no provision for the fitting of the leg portions of bifurcated garments such as swimming trunks or bathing suits, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a modification of the construction therein shown and described which, in its preferred form, will not only enable the close fitting of the bust and waist portions of the garment but will also admit of the leg or trunk portions of bifurcated garments being closely fitted thereto. I have found that the particular problem in adapting the construction to the proper display of close-fitting bifurcated garments resides in the smooth fitting of the crotch portion which will almost inevitably have unnatural and unsightly wrinkles if special provision is not embodied in the display form to prevent this undesirable result. The construction of the improved garment display form may follow in general the principles set forth in my said copending application.

For the purpose of facilitating the smooth arrangement and adjustment of close fitting garments such, for example, as bathing suits, the display form is constructed in a peculiar manner at the stub ends of the thighs and along the borders of the crotch intervening between said thighs, in such a way as to substantially prevent relative displacement between the thigh stubs while leaving the stiffened flexible material resiliently fiexi ble along the edges of the intervening crotch, as hereinafter explained.

In the drawing, which shows a preferred embodiment of my inventio n- Figure l is a front elevation of a bathing suit as it appears when displayed on ,a form constructed according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the same on a slightly reduced scale.

Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line 33,

of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective of the display form from the rear.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5, of Figure 4,

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates the present invention in its adaptation to the floor or window display of a close-fitting garment such, for example, as a swimming suit made of elastic material, a tubular standard I which is 5 provided with a heavy base 2, has an extension rod 3 telescopically mounted therein, a thumbscrew 8 being threaded into the upper end of tubular standard I for securing the extension rod 3 at any desired height to which it may be ad- 10 justed. Projecting in opposite directions from the upper end of extension rod 3 are bracket arms 5, 5, which are suitably arranged to represent the shoulders of a person for whom the bathing suit shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, is in- 15 tended. Attached to the one piece bathing suit at the top are elongated straps or bands 6, 6, which after being passed over the bracket arms 5,

5, are threaded through retaining loops 1, l, at the back (see Figure 2) passed about standard I 20 and finally passed about the waistline and knotted in front. More especially for the purpose of displaying close-fitting bifurcated garments such as one-piece bathing suits in such a way that the elastic material composing the suit will set 25 smoothly and without wrinkles at every point, my invention contemplates a relief form provided with separately projecting appendages or thighs with an intervening space or crotch. In the form shown on the drawing, the hollow relief form 8 30 is constructed of structurally self-supporting material such, for example, as superposed layers of buckram and burlap, stiffened and united by sizing and covered with soft cotton cloth, such as jersey. When this material is softened by mull- 35 ing, it may readily be hot pressed or formed in full relief to simulate portions of the torso and separated thighs anterior to an imaginary medial transverse plane of intersection. As may be seen from an inspection of Figures 2, 4, and 5 of 40 the drawing, the rearWardly-presented edges of the stiffened sheet material composing the hollow relief form 8, terminate in said plane at the top, along the curved body outlines and along the bottom stub ends of the thighs to the side edges 9, 9, 45 of the intervening crotch which are inclined forwardly and upwardly to the abdominal wall of the display form as shown in Figures 4 and 5.

While the material of which the form is composed is self-supportingas stated hereinbe- 50 foreso far as the hollow relief structure is concerned, it is obvious that this thin material still remains resiliently yielding at the marginal edges of the form, where it cannot support itself to the extent of rigidly maintaining the desired contour 55 at these edges. To overcome this, the following expedient is provided. Disposed substantially within the imaginary plane of intersection at every point and secured to the marginal edge of the hollow relief form, is a skeletonized frame constructed of a substantially inflexible rod preferably of steel. Said skeletonized frame comprises a top straight section it, shoulder sections l l, l l, waistline sections l2, l2, and thigh sections l3, l3, which are deflected inwardly at the bottom to form alined stub end sections M, M, of the skeletonized frame. By an inspection of Figure l of the drawing, it will be seen that the spaced ends l5, E5, of the substantially inflexible rod of which the skeletonized frame is constructed, are more widely spaced than the marginal edges 9, 9, of the stiffened sheet material which are unsupported by the frame and remain therefore yielding, and which define the intervening space or slot l! at the crotch, said marginal edges being rounded outwardly at the bottom into alinement with the stub ends M, M. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the marginal edges 9, 9, recede forwardly from the common plane of the skeletonized frame and upwardly from the stub ends of the thighs. In consequence of this construction, when the bathing suit is drawn into smooth and unwrinkled conformity with the front walls of the body and thighs of the display form, the heavy, reinforced crotch material which is drawn through the space or slot ill for this purpose, may be drawn up out of sight behind the marginal edges of the slot and secured under tension in the rear by pins H3 or other suitable fastenings to the gathered-up seat portion of the garment as indicated in Figure 2 of the drawing, while the material drawn outwardly around the outer profile curves of the display form is similarly secured in the rear of the skeletonized frame.

Referring more especially to Figure 4 of the drawing, a transverse brace I9 which extends between the oppositely disposed waistline sections of the skeletonized frame is provided with a releasable clamping device 20 disposed in the rear of the common plane of said frame so that the form may be readily set at any desired height on the tubular standard I in conjunction with a proper setting of the extension rod 3 and bracket arms 5, 5, for most effectively displaying the swimming or bathing suit. The introduction of this transverse brace l9 across the intermediate portion of the skeletonized frame forms an effective truss or tie which converts the flexible material into a virtually rigid unyielding structure over the major portion of the high relief form. The stiffening rod along the outer edges H! of the bifurcated lower end portions of the form renders the thigh members substantially unyielding relatively to each other while the absence of such reenforcement along the inner marginal edges 9 of the thighs at the crotch (between points l5-l 5 in Fig. 4) permit a lateral yield of the dress form material along said edges. The combined effects of these structural features enable the window or display form dresser to produce a perfectly smooth set-up of the garment, even over the crotch, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawing. BY using the display form in the above-described manner, the procedure is greatly facilitated by the ease with which the material in the bifurcated portions of the garment may be taken up without wrinkles showing in front and adjusted in correct position relatively to the main body iprirti mv of the arment.

the relative adjustment of the thigh portions of said swimming suit.

2. In a display form for stretchable garments, the combination with a structurally self-competent hollow relief form shaped to simulate the human torso and thighs separated by an intervening crotch, of a reenforcement secured to and conforming with the marginal edges of said hollow relief form, said reenforcement terminating at opposite ends in the stub ends of said thighs at opposite edges 'of said crotch, the crotchforming edges of said hollow relief form being resiliently yieldable.

3. In a display form for swimming suits, the combination with a hollow relief form constructed of stiffened flexible sheet material shaped to simulate the human torso and thighs, said thighs being separated by an intervening crotch, of a substantially inflexible rod shaped to conform to the outline of said relief form in an intersecting plane excepting opposite sides of said crotch for permitting the separate installation of said thighs in and their form adjustment to the leg portions of a swimming suit.

4. A hollow display form for garments having bifurcated extremities, said display form being constructed of structurally self-supporting sheet material shaped to simulate portions of the human torso and separated thighs anterior to an imaginary plane, said display form having its marginal edges presented edgewise in said plane, and a substantially inflexible rod shaped to conform to said marginal edges of the relief form and being fixed to said edges for their rigid sup port and terminating at opposite ends in the stub ends of said thighs so that opposite edges of the space intervening between said separated thighs remain flexible and unsupported.

5. A display form for elastic garments having bifurcated extremities, said display form comprising a skeletonized frame conforming in outline to the intersection of an imaginary plane with the human torso and appendages for which said garments are intended, said skeletonized frame having relatively unyielding branches respectively defining said appendages except the portions of the two appendages facing one another, a half-form in relief of said human torso and appendages, said half-form being constructed of stiffened sheet material shaped to simulate the human torso and appendageswith an intervening space between said appendages, said half form having said frame fixed to the marginal edges, excepting the edge portion located between said appendages and undefined by said frame, whereby the marginal edges of the display form portions defining the intervening space between said appendages remain flexible and unsupported by the frame in said plane.

6. In a display form for swim suits, the combination with a hollow relief form constructed of stiffened flexible sheet material and shaped to simulate portions of the human torso and thighs anterior to an imaginary plane intersecting said portions breadthwise, said thigh portions being parted with respect to each other by an 5 intervening crotch, of a substantially inflexible rod shaped to conform to the marginal outline of the thigh portions of said relief form within said imaginary plane and provided with aligned laterally spaced end portions presented inwardly 10 along the stub ends of said thighs and respectively terminating on opposite sides of said crotch, the adjacent marginal edges of the thigh-forming portions of the stiffened flexible material constituting separately compressible and distensible forms for the thigh portions of a swim suit.

7. A display form for bifurcated garments, said display form being constructed of stiffened flexible sheet material normally resiliently yielding at its edges and provided with thigh portions separated by an intervening crotch, said form having means for rendering it substantially unyielding along its edges except along the inner edges of said thigh portions on opposite sides of said crotch, for the yielding adjustment of the bifurcated portions of said garments.

LOUIS KALVIN. 

